Repentance

repent |riˈpent|
verb [ no obj. ]feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin: the priest urged his listeners to repent | he repented of his action.• [ with obj. ] view or think of (an action or omission) with deep regret or remorse: Marian came to repent her hasty judgment.


God commands us to repent of our sins and leave them behind. Why is that so hard? Do we like having sins? Do we just not understand the seriousness of sin and its effects? Do we ever think we don't have anything to repent of?God promises us that if we repent, we can be cleansed of all our sins. That's what the Atonement of Jesus Christ did for us. It's hard to repent, though. We're human, we're prideful, we don't like to be wrong, and worst of all, it hurts to change.
This is where that whole benefit of the doubt thing comes in. We spend far too much time thinking that we can fix things on our own without the help of an omnipotent and omniscient God, our Father. We think that it's okay to hide things and just try and get the little pieces back together after we've broken something. We doubt the Lord of all creation who has promised us, "Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me" (Book of Mormon, Mosiah: 26:30). If He makes a promise, He will keep it. We have to give Him the benefit of the doubt. The benefit this time is that if we are willing to give our doubt to Him, then He will do away with it. If we trust Him and repent, He will forgive us and fill those dark corners with light.

The Wall

A friend has felt lately that she's come up against a wall. She has to make a decision, but this proverbial and figurative wall seems to just get in the way of any clarity or helpful information. It makes it hard to know which direction to go. It blocks the view. It's solid. She doesn't know if she should power through it, go around, under, over. Maybe just stay on the side she's already on.

Doubts are like that wall sometimes. They just block out the light and get in the way of our progress.

The benefit of the doubt here is that pushing through that wall will make you stronger and aware of the strength you had the whole time. Searching for a way to get around that wall is a good time to explore yourself and the world around you. Climbing that wall will put you on top and give you a newer broader perspective. The benefit of the doubt is that as we conquer it, it makes us better and stronger than before.

Just as the father of the afflicted child in Mark 9, if we take our doubts to the Lord and ask for His help, He will expand our capabilities and increase our faith.